Site: Prince Mine, Point Aconi Block
Location: Point Aconi - McCreadyville
Status: Closed/ To be Reclaimed
- Operated between 1975 - 2001
- Produced >22 million tonnes
- Ash 12%; Sulphur 3.8%; BTU 11,800
- Waste piles 250,000 m3 (5.7 acres)
- Acid water treatment facility
Source: Coal Related sites in Industrial Cape Breton, NSDNR 2003

MAY 2011 UPDATE

Look what they've done to my land, Ma
Look what they're doing to Crown land!
They're strip mining it for polluting coal
And turning it upside down, Ma
Look what they're doing to our land!

Under the disguise of cleaning up old hand dug crop pits they're strip mining over 400,000 tons a year of high polluting coal from coastal Crown forests and wetlands to generate electricity for Nova Scotians and exempted NSPI from mercury emission regulations to allow burning it!

As the noise and the dust and the blasting and the strip mining over 150 feet deep gets closer to people's homes, NSDNR has declared their flagship test case of "reclamation" of Devco's old Prince Mine site a success, but still refuses to hold any local public consultation whatsoever or answer any obvious questions as they prepare to release their new Minerals Strategy for the other coal sites currently under a Moratorium!!!

Contrary to popular mythology that the coal mines were closed years ago and the coal is all gone so NSPI imports all its coal, over 25% of it is being strip mined right here in Nova Scotia, so far. Dozens of Nova Scotians have been driven out of their homes and off their ancestral lands, so far. In addition to strip mining, there are calls for proposals for Coal Gas exploration and development.

But just as clearcutting forests for biomass to generate electricity is considered objectionable by the province's environmental bandwagon but strip mining for coal to generate electricity is not even considered worth mentioning, similarly fracking for shale gas is considered objectionable but fracking for coal gas is considered not worth mentioning either! So check out the facts about what's happening in the coalfields of Nova Scotia for yourself, e.g.:

- 2009 ECBC call to mine the energy not the coal - April 2010 NS govt Call for Proposals for Coal Gas - September 2010 Paul Younger at CBU Symposium - September 2010 CBC interview of Paul Younger - Environmental risks report by the company - List of oil and gas projects in NS - NS govt Fact Sheets - Energy assets in Inverness County - Submit your comments on the scope of the government's review of the potential environmental issues associated with hydraulic fracturing in Nova Scotia by 6 June 2011

Underground Coal Gasification projects are developed by drilling two wells into the underground coal seam and creating a connection between them. One of the wells injects oxygen or air while the other extracts the gas. A connection between the injector and extractor is normally created by hydrofracturing, where high pressure water (hydro) is used to break up (fracture) the rock. Once the two wells are connected, the operator ignites the coal and then controls its gasification by varying the amount of air let in and the amount of gas that exits. The gasification process creates a number of compounds in the coal seam, including phenols and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, benzene, carbon dioxide, ammonia and sulphide. These compounds can migrate from the gasification zone and contaminate surrounding ground water.

Excursion 1 – Surface Remediation - In addition to the mine water problems that the Island is facing, there are surface facilities that have been used by the mining companies and need remediation. Furthermore, waste rock piles and coal residues from wash plants had to be converted to an environmentally sound condition. This field trip will show you how those problems have been managed by the owners of the former mining operations.
Excursion 2 – Mine Water Treatment - Though we won’t have the opportunity to go underground anymore, because all the mine adits are closed, this mid conference field trip will show you how one of the most prominent mine water discharges is dealt with.
Excursion 4 – Mine Water Outfalls - Within the Sydney Coal Field there are 26 mine water outfalls. Their mine water quality ranges from “no problem” to “heavily polluting”. This tour will show you a selection of those sites.

Now that the snow has melted, you can see that there's all kinds of material from the old waste rock pile at the Prince Mine being buried in the open pits created by strip mining the DNR Crown land under the guise of "reclamation" despite NSE's assurances of compliance with the environmental regulations.

Pioneer has drilled test holes in preparation for strip mining Cranberry Meadow and also turning it into a 150 foot deep open pit this summer under the guise of reclamation of the old Prince Mine site.

Plans to highwall mine out under the ocean were nixed when the miner got stuck and the area along the shore has been filled back in. But the Highwall Miner is back, presumably to highwall mine under the homes along Forrest Lane, and still there is no public information or consultation or homeowners rights. And there was another big blast on April 8th just within the approved ground vibration limits as usual. (Air Concussion 128 dBA, Ground Vibration 12.5 mm/s (0.5 in./sec.) Peak Particle Velocity)

Under the government's deceitful guise of "reclamation", Pioneer Coal continues to blast the DNR Crown land at Point Aconi and strip mine the "surface" coal and truck it to NSPI's power plants that have been exempted from emission regulations to create a market for this high mercury, high sulphur coal banned everywhere else years ago. Not much protection for the Bird Islands just offshore at the mouth of the Bras d'Or Lakes either.

After complaints continued there's evidence that NSE's Inspector actually got out of his truck and looked at the waste rock pile being dumped behind the homes on Forest Lane without any testing for contamination or dust control. And after the Inspector was nearly knocked off his feet by the blast NSE has finally installed their own monitor and since then the blasts have been milder. Only took 4 years to get them to do that much!

After 5 years of "reclamation" of the coastal DNR Crown woodlands and wetlands at Point Aconi the only signs of life left are strip miners in their trucks thanks to Cecil Clarke & Co.

To claim that NSPI has to raise rates now because of the cost of importing coal is nonsense, to swallow such propaganda hook line and sinker is outrageously irresponsible at best. To shove it down our throats as if “no is not an option” even before NSPI presents its evidence to the Utility Review Board is offensive, and indicative of they way things really work in Nova Scotia despite 250 years of “democracy” regardless of which party is in power. Blasting Point Aconi to smithereens is indicative of their shameful attitude towards the people of Nova Scotia being adversely affected by the government's deceitful decision and left to fend for themselves while the mining mafia laugh all the way to the bank and nimby environmentalists congratulate them on their "success" at "reclamation".
 
As DEVCO/ECBC divests its hundreds of federal properties across the Sydney coalfields by 2012, and the provincial government continues to exempt the mining and power companies from every rule in the book and makes decisions based on blatant lies aided and abetted by the media that fails to inform the public of the undeniable facts, what’s stopping strip mining high sulphur, high mercury coal from Point Aconi to Donkin now that the NDP has provided a market for it? And NSPI raises its rates anyway! Ignoring the lessons of history and exempting Nova Scotia’s miners and worst polluters from environmental and emission regulations ought to do wonders in attracting people and businesses and tourists to our dirtiest, blackest, cancerous province for years to come. How stupid and irresponsible and feudal can Nova Scotia afford to be? Perhaps if those responsible were held legally liable for the real costs and consequences of permiting another Point Aconi or Tar Ponds and Coke Ovens or Westray in Nova Scotia  they'd smarten up in a hurry. 

Meanwhile, the Environment Minister who had the power and the reasons to put a stop to this heartbreaking and hurtful destruction before it began but refused to listen to anyone at all except his anonymous Community Liaison Committee, Mark Parent has been given the 2010 Eco-hero award for environmental political will by the Nova Scotia Environment Network in Halifax!!!

28 February 2010 – After three years of Pioneer Coal clearcutting and strip mining and blasting Point Aconi to smithereens and trucking the high sulphur, high mercury coal to Lingan as fast as possible before the 2010 emission regulations kicked in, NSDNR is boasting that “reclamation” of their “flagship test case” is a “success” while Pioneer's flatbed trucks have been seen removing equipment from the Prince Mine site, and we hear that the NS Environment Department is saying there’s no more coal, and Nova Scotia Power is saying they can’t burn it without frigging up the boilers. If that’s their way of saving face and finally putting a stop to strip mining Cape Breton coal that never should have been approved in the first place, so be it. However, the estimated $6 million remediation of the Prince Mine’s toxic waste pile and acid mine drainage problems remains, in addition to the restoration of DNR’s Crown woodlands and wetlands to a better condition than they were before Pioneer Coal was allowed to strip mine the area under false pretexts.

While the media are proclaiming that “King Coal” is back they have still never, ever reported that Pioneer has been strip mining high sulphur, high mercury coal from its Prince Mine site at Point Aconi and trucking it to NSPI’s power plant in Lingan for over two and half years now.

Since August 2007, Pioneer Coal has run eight coal trucks x 35 tonnes x 4 2 hr trips/day = 1060 tonnes/day x 650 days = 690,000 tonnes of high sulphur, high mercury coal so far to NSPI’s Lingan power plant, not counting the times Pioneer Coal trucked 12hrs x 6 days a week as fast as possible before the 2010 emission regulations kicked in. That’s double the amount of thermal coal Xstrata originally planned to mine per year at Donkin but couldn't find a market for. If you see one of these trucks on the highway around Sydney they’re still hauling Point Aconi's high polluting coal to Lingan despite what they say about Donkin’s coal being unfit to burn at NSPI's power plants. Why the double standard?

We’ve been hearing through the grapevine for months that Pioneer Coal was laying off its workers at Point Aconi at the end of the year and would clean up and move out, but we’ll believe it when we see it.

Simple observation shows that Point Aconi continues to be Nova Scotia’s unmentionable dirty secret as Pioneer’s axemen can be seen clearcutting even more woodlands and wetlands next to the cranberry bog, and continues to truck the high sulphur “surface” coal from a huge open pit on the DNR Crown land to Lingan as fast as possible, while the estimated $6 million clean up of the Prince Mine property alone remains mostly untouched.

In stark contrast to Pioneer Coal and its anonymous Community Liaison Committee who remain nowhere to be seen or heard in public, Xstrata held a public meeting on December 18th to inform the community on the status of their Donkin coal mine project and confirm the talk of the town for months. Donkin is not going ahead because there is no market for Donkin’s high sulphur coal, especially now that the January 1st 2010 emission regulations came into effect and Nova Scotia Power could be fined $500,000.00 a day for violating them. But no one ever dares mention the high sulphur, high mercury, high chlorine, high ash Point Aconi coal they’ve been strip mining and burning at Lingan for over two years now in defiance of every document on record. Why the big secret?

Despite the Tories’ talk of being clean and green and Alfie MacLeod’s award for stopping strip mining in his riding, on 4 November 2009 he introduced a private members bill to exempt Nova Scotia Power from the emissions regulations for 4 years for the sake of some jobs at Donkin. Evidently that’s what the Regressive Conservatives did at Point Aconi and would have done at Donkin and the other proposed coal mine sites across CBRM if the people of Nova Scotia hadn’t exercised their democratic rights and voted them out of office in last June’s election. The new NDP government says they will not grant the exemption. And so it should be, and should have been in the first place if Nova Scotia is to be part of the solution instead of the problem. The lessons from over 300 years of coal mining history in Cape Breton to today’s multi-ziillion dollar$ cleanup of the tar ponds and coke ovens in beautiful downtown Sydney and Devco’s cleanup of the surrounding mine sites ought to have been learned by now and put to good use.

Instead, Nova Scotia’s Department of Natural Resources continues to give propaganda presentations in Halifax boasting of their “sucess” stories of “reclamation” of old mine sites in Stellarton and Point Aconi while the people being adversely affected by strip mining in their communities are ignored by DNR’s promoters and the Environment Department responsible for regulating the mines, so residents of Stellarton have put their lives on the line and filed a law suit against Pioneer Coal. From what lawyers have told us, if they loose they could end up paying Pioneer’s costs, which is why CASM didn’t do it.

From our experience in Point Aconi and across the region, we know what the people living near the strip mine in Stellarton are dealing with, and what they’re up against, and wish to extend our support in fighting for their rights, and for everyone in Nova Scotia. Without drastic changes to the assessment and approval and monitoring and compliance processes, what’s happening in Point Aconi and Stellarton could happen anywhere in Nova Scotia where there are mineral or aggregate resources and the money and machines and political will to mine them, even from right under your house!

If it was your house being mined under or blasted to smithereens, who can you call? In our third-world like province there is no one protecting the rights of the people, in Sellarton affected residents have had to take matters into their own hands while DNR continues to promote its twisted version of events and NSE passes the buck around and around.

In a 2 January 2010 article about Premier Darrell Dexter’s interview with the Cape Breton Post, he says that “The decisions that get made in government will be made on the best information, the best evidence that we have, so that people… will be able to understand what it was based on”, and there is always room for improvement.

They could start by at least enforcing the first Terms and Conditions of Approval requiring Pioneer Coal to inform the public about the details of their project at Point Aconi. And DNR has been asked to give their presentation on Point Aconi here and see if it flies, or at the very least post it on their website or issue a press release, but so far no, nothing. Meanwhile DNR’s Voluntary Planning Committee has been asking environmental groups in Halifax who’ve seen the presentation on “Concurrent Reclamation Practices at the Point Aconi Surface Coal Mine” to support DNR’s “success”. Take a trip along Sherie Lee Lane and judge for yourself before this destructive and irresponsible practice is allowed to spread into your backyard!

September 2009 - After 3 years of "reclamation" at DNR's "flagship test case", and a Reclamation Study by their panel of experts, and Terms of Conditions of Approval that requires a review of Pioneer's project after 3 years, there's no sign of any public information or consultation from the usual suspects. Instead, what was a flat coastal Crown woodland and rare wetlands is now a huge hill higher than the hydro poles with some grubbings dumped on it. We hear that the Novaminer got stuck just when they were about to start highwall mining under the ocean so that's been nixed! Pioneer wasted no time covering up the holes they've created under the pretext of cleaning up old hand dug crop pits. The pit Pioneer excavated next to the Prince Mine Road that was filled in after CASM complained of acid mine drainage has been excavated again, presumably in preparation for highwall mining under the homes on Forrest Lane.

Three days after the election Environment’s Inspector Langille called a complainant of the previous week’s blast and was an entirely different person than we’ve been dealing with for the past 3 years. There hasn’t been a blast since, and he arranged for us to get a copy of the blast reports without having to go through FOIPOP. Since “reclamation” of the “Prince Mine site” began there have been 46 blasts all near the maximum allowable concussion and vibration levels
(Air Concussion 128 dBA, Ground Vibration 12.5 mm/s (0.5 in./sec.) Peak Particle Velocity).

Meanwhile, under the Tory government’s false pretext of cleaning up old hand dug crop pits on coastal DNR Crown land that has never been mined before, Pioneer Coal has blasted and excavated a huge 160 foot deep pit and has been creating more holes as it highwall mines under the land and under the ocean and nearby homes for high sulphur “surface” coal as fast as they can before the 2010 emission targets are enforced and there's no legal market for the high polluting coal.

Under the Tory government’s guise of “progressive rehabilitation”, under the direction of NSE's anonymous Community Liaison Committee that holds secret meetings and submitted a secret land use plan to the government, a huge stockpile of various materials excavated from the “Prince Mine site” higher than the tree tops has been covered with soil and some clumps of vegetation dug up from somewhere else and dumped on what was a rare peat bog forest full of all kinds of wildlife and rare plants before the government’s “clean up” began.

A treasure trove of 350 million year old fossils being excavated during the process that rivals Joggins is being laid to waste while the local first class fossil center in Sydney Mines, that attracts visitors from across the continent, is denied funding or access to the site because MLA Cecil Clarke wants to turn the museum into a call centre.

Point Aconi is a prime example of the Tories legacy of “sustainability” and “environmental goals” that bring “economic prosperity” for their friends in the mining industry and undermine any other development for decades to come.

DNR’s Scott Swindon has finally agreed to another meeting with Nova Scotia’s environmental groups to discuss, among other things, “sustainability” and “reclamation” using a “critical thinking process”, but still won't admit it's mining!